Two Ghanaian referees Maxwell Asiedu and Dickson Iddi Diabor have been invited by the Confederation of African Handball (CAHB) to undertake a course in Continental Badge officiating.
The course which is scheduled to take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast from 10th to 17th, September 2022 is geared toward equipping the paid referees with the needed skills and keeping them abreast with the current rules and regulations regarding the development of the sport.
The first phase of the training which was the theory aspect was done last year during the Covid-19 lockdown via Zoom.
The eight days second phase course will focus on practicals and technicalities of the game.
Newly elected President of the Handball Association of Ghana, Nii Lante Bannerman gave an amount of €1,300 Euros and flight tickets to the said referees as part of his determination to revamp and ignite passion for the sport.
The money is to cater for their registration which includes accommodation, feeding and internal transportation.
Both referees officiated in the recently ended Karen Slowe Cup, a memorial handball tournament held in collaboration with the Greater Accra Handball Association.
The last time Ghana had a licensed paired referees was in 1996.
Presently, the country has no licensed referee which would have meant no officiating official from Ghana could have participated in the impending All African Games in 2023.
This training for the two would afford Ghana to be represented in the area of officiating.
It would also afford the pair the ability to officiate other matches on the continent which hitherto, would not have been possible.
The two Referees have embarked on the training program under the auspices of the new administration led by Nii Lante Bannerman and sponsored by GIG Group of companies.
CEO of the GIG Group, Anthony Akorley reiterated the importance of helping Handball to reach the height that it deserves.
He also expressed hope of seeing Ghana Handball represented at the next Olympics.